


A big sister's discipline

by alphabetgirl



Series: Discipline [2]
Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Crying, Family, Hurt/Comfort, No Slash, Overprotective, Spanking, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 20:17:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16709311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphabetgirl/pseuds/alphabetgirl
Summary: Phillip once again steps out of line. It is up to big sister Lettie to teach him a lesson.





	A big sister's discipline

Phillip looked up when the door of his cell opened, craning to see who it was as much as the cuffs holding him to the desk would allow. He hoped it wasn't P.T or Charity, he was already feeling pretty ashamed of himself, so seeing his mother and father figure would probably drive him to the point of tears. It turned out that it wasn't either of them. It was Lettie. Phillip couldn't decide if that was better or worse.

"So what's the story this time?" The songstress asked, entering the cell and putting her hands on her lips, eyes flashing angrily. 

Behind her, a police officer hovered awkwardly, shuffling his feet.

"They were saying stuff about you, and Charles and some of the others," Phillip said sheepishly, unable to meet her eye.

"So your smart mouth made an appearance. For God's sake Flip! We are all adults. We can stand up for ourselves," she slapped the wall with an open palm in her temper, causing both the officer and Phillip to jump. "You are just lucky that there were witnesses to confirm that you didn't throw the first punch,". 

"I know," Phillip said softly. 

"Do you, though? Do you really understand the gravity of the situation? Of how close you came to a prison sentence?," 

Phillip swallowed dryly.

"Lettie..." he tried to reach for her, forgetting about the handcuffs and wincing as the cold metal dug into his wrist a little bit.

Lettie eyed him with zero sympathy.

"If I weren't such a soft touch, I'd suggest you keep him in for a few days, for crimes against common sense," she said over her shoulder to the cop.

"Erm..." the man replied, not sure how to respond to that.

Lettie rubbed her temples exasperratedly, her eyes flicking shut for a moment.Phillip licked his now dry lips, the guilt beginning to eat away at him.

"I knew that once wouldn't be enough for you," she sighed before turning to the police officer. "Jared, can you give us a minute?"

"Of course. Let me just unlock..."

"No. Leave the cuffs on him and give me the key. I'll let him go when I'm done with him" Lettie said firmly. 

The cop glanced between the two circus performers, looking a little unsure before inclining his head.

"O.k." he took a small silver key and handed it to Lettie before walking back out into the station corridor. "Good luck, kid," he said to Phillip before closing the door.

"You know him?" Phillip asked lightly, trying to keep the nerves out of his voice. 

"My cousin," Lettie replied. "Don't try to change the subject. Stand up."

"Why?"

"Up." 

Slowly, Phillip rose to his feet, facing the far wall and heard the rustle of silk skirts as Lettie approached, followed by the soft thud as she dropped something onto the table. Phillip's stomach flipped he realised what it was. 

"Lettie, you can't,"

"I think you'll find that I can, little brother," 

Phillip tugged against his cuffs a little bit. 

"Stop." Lettie said, laying one hand on top of his gently. "I'm gonna give you twenty with the brush. You try to break free of these cuffs, you will hurt yourself and I will give you more swats. Same goes for if you protest or get mouthy with me. O.k.?" The chair legs scraped along the stone floor of the cell as the performer moved it out from behind the young man. 

"O.K" Phillip submitted grudgingly , not knowing what other option he had. 

Stepping forwards, Lettie gently unfastened the button on his trousers and pulled them down to just above his knees. Phillip shivered, from both the sudden chill of the interview room and from the vulnerability. 

"Lean forwards a bit," she commanded softly.

Lettie picked the brush up from the table and Phillip waited for the sudden sting. 

"What are you waiting..." he began when it didn't come after a few seconds. A whoosh of air cut him off, indicating that the brush was on it's way a split second before pain radiated across his rump. Taken by surprise, he couldn't hold back the yelp that broke free. The second and third swats followed before he could recover, followed by a fourth and fifth in quick succession. Already his skin felt like it was on fire and they were only a quarter of the way through. 

The six, seventh and eight blows in pretty much the same way, as Lettie alternated between his left and right side. The 9th and 10th ones however, were harder and brought tears to the young man's eyes.

"Barnum held himself back a bit when he did this, didn't he?" Lettie tutted. "I knew he would. Big softie," 

The 11th one landed right on his sit spot, and he couldn't stop the swear word escaping before it was to late. 

"Language!," Lettie barked, giving him five quick, thankfully lighter swats from the top to his sit spot. "Those don't count. 9 more to go," 

Phillip counted the following nine in his head, which maybe made the spanking seem to pass fractionally quicker. When Lettie finally put the paddle brush down, he slumped forwards a bit, trembling slightly and gasping in between barely stifled sobs.

Lettie gently pulled his trousers back up and fastened them, murmuring words of comfort as she unlocked the cuffs. 

"Lettie?" Jared stuck his head in the room. " I'm really sorry, but we need this room,"

"That's fine," Lettie said "We're done here anyway," 

She took Phillip's hand and squeezed his fingers soothingly before leading him out of the station and to the carriage she had left waiting outside. 

Lettie had thought to bring a cushion from the circus in the carriage, so Phillip didn't have to sit directly on the hard, uncomfortable bench for the lengthy ride through town to the circus. The tears were falling freely now, more from guilt and shame than pain, and no matter how much the junior ringmaster tried, he couldn't hold them at bay. 

"Oh, sweetheart," Lettie crooned as she noticed the droplets rolling steadily down his cheeks and dripping into his lap. "Come here,"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Phillip garbled as she drew him close, pressing his face into the crook of her shoulder.

"Hush now. It's alright. All's forgiven," Lettie soothed, rubbing his back "Shhh, you're alright, honey. Shhh.Big sister's here. It's ok. I've got you. Shhh, shhh." 

The soft murmurings of the songstress, and the gently rocking motion of the carriage soon soothed the junior ringleader, and he was half asleep on Lettie's shoulder by the time that they finally pulled up outside the circus. Thankfully, everyone else had turned in for the night by then so there was no one to spot them sneaking into her caravan. Phillip shivered. The days were getting colder now, and he had been sat in a chilly police cell with just his shirt and waistcoat on. 

Tutting sympathetically, Lettie took the throw off her bed and wrapped it around him snugly, guiding him down so that he was lying on the bed. There was no question where he was going to sleep that night. After adding another couple of blankets, Lettie soaked a rag with cold water and carefully laid it over his red, puffy eyes, hushing his little noise of surprise at the sudden coldness. 

"Just let that lie there for a minute, it'll help,".

The bed dipped slightly as the woman climbed in beside him, pulling him into her arms and tightening the blankets around him. 

"Are you alright?" she asked softly, pushing a stray lock of hair back into place. 

Phillip nodded, snuggling closer, humming happily as his back was rubbed. 

"Need anything?" 

"No," Phillip yawned sleepily. He was wrapped up so tightly that he could barely move an inch but he was too content to care. 

Lettie cooed softly, leaning forward to press featherlight kisses on his forehead. 

"Go to sleep, little brother," she murmured fondly, taking the wet cloth off his eyes and pulling him closer, tucking his face into the crook of her neck. 

"M'okay," Phillip mumbled, his eyes fluttering closed as the rhythmic rubbing on his back resumed. Within a few minutes he was sound asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Are you liking this series? Do you want to see more? I am open to prompts. Any circus family members you want to see discipline each other, post a comment below.


End file.
